What’s in and what’s out of the Top 100 restaurants

Each year it seems to be tougher to cut restaurants from the Top 100, but what can I do when restaurants such as RN74, Frances and Flour+Water come on the scene?

All three are nominated for the James Beard Best New Restaurant award this year, accounting for half the nominees in that category. Two other candidates are from New York, and the third from Philadelphia. This helps to illustrate what a good year it was for new restaurants in the Bay Area.

In some cases the food quality had diminished from last year, but many were as good as I remember including Matterhorn, Gitane,the Moss Room and Nettie’s. I wish I could have expanded the list so I wouldn’t have to make as many painful cuts. In addition, Ubuntu recently had a chef change, and Aqua is in transition so it is too early to know how the food will fare.

Now’s the time for you to weigh in (if you’ve seen the list). What’s on target and what did I miss? Those who didn’t buy the newspaper will have to wait until tomorrow when the guide will posted be on SF Gate. Of if you have good eyes you can find the names of the restaurants on the cover pictured above.